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The
American Civil Liberties Union is investigating a claim that a Whole Foods
Market in Albuquerque
has begun a "no Spanish" policy with employees.

The store on Academy
and Wyoming
boulevards says it didn't formally ban speaking Spanish, but ACLU attorneys
said they feel there may have been a human rights violation.

Bryan Baldizan,
the employee at the center of the controversy, said a Whole Foods supervisor
recently singled out Spanish speakers. Baldizan claims that while handing out
the company's language policy at a work meeting, the supervisor said they could
not speak Spanish at work. Whole Foods said it does not have a "no foreign
languages spoken" policy.

The company's official policy, however, is that
English is the default language employees must speak for consistent
communication.

He and another employee wrote a letter expressing their
grievances about not being able to speak Spanish.